Transcript of Brett Favre's weekly news conference before Wednesday's midday practice:
On Deanna Favre's blog saying that she was upset by the Lions story and whether it has been a distraction…
No, it's not. I'm well aware of all that stuff. It's not the first time we've gone through things as a family. Not all stories are positive, and families are families. You stick up for one another, regardless of what situation you're in. Obviously, this is a unique situation, being a pro football player and doing it for a long time. Because of that, you're in the public eye and things happen, things are said. Once again, families are families. I would stick up for my wife as well.
It has not lingered. It has not distracted me. I hate to say I'm used to it. It's just part of it. It's kind of like positive stories or things being said about you, and how you handle those, to me, are equally as important. If you start believing all the hype, good or bad, I think you're on your way out. To me, I am probably less affected by those type of stories than my family, understandably so.
On if Matt Millen has called and apologized…
No, I don't think he owes me an apology. I don't think anything was done wrong. I talked to Matt last week after all that came out and nothing was wrong. Nothing was done illegally. He doesn't have to apologize to me.
On Jay Glazer of FoxSports standing behind his story…
Great. Let him stand by it. I could care less. I have the Buffalo Bills to worry about this week. I didn't call the Lions. I'll say that again. He can stand by whatever. I'm trying to get ready for the Buffalo Bills.
On if he spoke to any Lions coaches…
I don't know who was in that room. I have no idea.
On if he spoke to any of the Lions' coaches "for an hour"…
No.
On if his nephew Dylan Favre is playing well at QB in high school…
He's close to breaking the state record, I think, in touchdowns.
On Favre's issues being recruited out of high school…
Not the type of issues he's having. He's four touchdowns away from breaking the state record, I think.
On what he would tell college recruiters about his nephew…
I think he's thrown 30-some-odd touchdowns this year. He threw that last year. What I would say to them is in some respects what I would say to Dylan. Numbers can be deceiving, obviously. I think I threw eight touchdowns in my senior year and I threw six maybe my junior year. If you looked at that, you'd say, "We don't want to recruit this guy." Here I am, 18 years in the NFL, there was something more than statistics.
Dylan, I think he has the potential to be a very good player. I think he's handled himself very well. He has another year of high school. He's very accurate. I don't know if he's going to be as big as me or have as big of an arm, but so what? You don't throw 30-plus touchdowns and just be OK. I think up to this point he has handled it well. The name obviously draws attention, but there's still a long way for him to go. Up to this point, he has done and said the right things. If I'm recruiting quarterbacks, I definitely would recruit him.
On avoiding interceptions and the blackjack analogy used by Eric Mangini to "stay on 20"…
I used to always take hits on 16. Does it depend on what the guy next to you has? I knew I could find out who the gamblers are in here [media interview room]. Believe it or not, I'm not a gambler. I know it sounds crazy [smiles]. I would sit at the table and everyone get up because "That guy takes hits on everything." When you're betting 10 dollars, who cares?
Believe me, I'm well aware of what is expected of me and how important it is to take care of the ball. I've played a long time. I understand that turnovers, as well as penalties, just the little things, there are so many factors that go into winning or losing. I know statistically speaking, if you turn the ball over more than your opponent, you lose. That's two times in three weeks we've won. Can you make a living doing that? Every coach, any statistician would tell you no. I don't plan on doing that.
I think there are reasons for not only interceptions, I think there are reasons for penalties and a lot of things that we're doing, or we're not doing, on offense. Without going into too much detail, I am well aware of it. I'm trying to take care of the ball and to be high-percentage passing but also productive. Being 30-for-30 for 100 yards is not very good. Points are the most important thing.
There is a fine line there and we didn't even really talk about how important it is from a team standpoint. He knows I know that. It was "How can we make this offense better?" After the six-touchdown game, same thing: "OK, how can we build on this?" That's what we're trying to get to.
On if the interceptions are due to miscommunications…
Thinking back to the Oakland game, the second one in the Oakland game, the deep ball, was just bad on my part and didn't matter what we were doing from a play standpoint. I just got desperate at that point, and that was one of those that was not going to be complete one way or the other.
The other one that was to Jerricho [Cotchery] in that game was on the goal line. He actually slipped and Dustin [Keller] got interfered with by two guys. It's illegal contact. He's running a crossing route, which would have pulled both guys out of the play. Instead, they both hit him and one of the guys that hits him falls into the place where Jerricho is coming, which is where he slipped. It's one of those how they didn't call a penalty, I have no idea. If he's able to get through on his crossing route, that's not a problem at all. We would probably have a touchdown.
There are plays like that throughout my career, and this year is no different where there are some that you go "What can you do?" A guy that's supposed to run a 12-yard route runs 14, or there's one where you throw to no one, and you're throwing away, or whatever, and it's not thrown away good enough and it gets picked. There are always factors that are your fault, there are factors that are not your fault, and there are some that should have been a penalty, or whatever.
We have a lot of potential here on offense, and I think everyone who has watched this knows that. To be able to overcome not only the turnovers but some of the mistakes we're making offensively just from a newness standpoint, and be as productive as we have been, all we have to look to is ourselves and see how, if we can just eliminate some of these mistakes just a little bit, we can be highly productive.
On if a win in Buffalo will put them over the hump…
I don't know about put us over the hump, but I think a win, period, however you can get them, is so important. Buffalo, we've been watching film on them all morning, they are playing outstanding. They are no fluke. It will be a difficult game for us, no doubt about it. It has been in the past. I had gone to Buffalo numerous times and it's a hostile environment.
Now it's a division opponent for me and I think it will do a lot for our psyche, character and things like that, but I don't know about put us over the hump. It will be the halfway point of the season. The division is wide open. I think that you look across the league this year, in general, the NFC and AFC, it's wide open with a lot of surprises. You just never know in football.
For us, I think it would do a lot for us from a team standpoint. There's, to me, a feeling that a team has, like "Oh, OK, we could be pretty good." That means more than anything. Right now, I think we are getting close to that point where we see that we can overcome mistakes and still win, but yet, like Oakland, it's a game we felt like we should have won and we didn't. We have to get over that hump. If we can do that, it will be interesting.
On the difficulty of winning on the road with a lot of mistakes…
I don't know if it can get much tougher, period, the fact that you're on the road and you're playing in an environment where noise is obviously a factor. It seems like teams in general just always play better at home, faster, or whatever. All of the factors that go into winning and losing are magnified that much more when you play away. This being a division opponent who is leading the division and playing outstanding, momentum is so important in this game. We need to get the momentum, get it early and try to keep it.
On if he has ever played with anyone with Leon Washington's versatility…
No, I haven't. I don't know that anyone would step into an offense and be as productive after returning kicks the way he does. He's dynamic. He's very smart. Versatile is an understatement with him. He's quick as a cat. He's just got great hands. I could go on and on.
Maybe about the one thing he can't do well or great is block [Patriots LB] Adalius Thomas, which why would you want Leon Washington to block Adalius Thomas? That's a mismatch. If you get him covering Leon, now they have problems. How you use him is so important. The guy, he's an unbelievable player.
On if the wide receiver injuries have affected the offense…
You say it doesn't. It's no different as a coach or playcaller: "All right guys, three guys are out, but it doesn't matter." They say that all the time: "We're going to play the same way we always do." Obviously, it's different.
For me, my back was against the wall backed into a corner from day one when I came here to not only learn this offense but to get on the same page with all of these guys in a short amount of time. It's hard to do. You don't run all the plays in practice that you install. I threw a fade-stop to LC [Laveranues Coles] the other day, and we've never practiced that play, but he makes a great catch. If you would have told me before the season that "OK, Brett, at some point you'll throw a fade-stop to win the game to Laveranues for 20 yards," I'd probably say, "I kind of doubt it."
You've got to do it. You've got to get on the same page somehow. Guys go down. You do you have to keep plugging along. You have to just fit guys in. You have to make it work, as hard as it may be. That's part of it. One running back may cut back sooner than another guy, and so the backside block may be more important than it would be the previous week, but you have to get it done. I think we've done a pretty good job of being able to manage that.
On if this is the hardest thing he's ever had to do…
Being that I'm in the moment right now, yes. I would have told you last year it was pretty difficult, and the year before it was difficult. I'm really having a good time working with these guys. This organization has been great. I realize that there are a lot of expectations and that's OK, that's a good thing. Also, to get on the same page and do it week in and week out.
We have to go play the Buffalo Bills this week, we don't have a lot of time to either put in new plays or to get on the same page with plays that we had been running and just try to find some comfort level. I'm just talking about me and the guys I'm throwing to, and the offense in general. It's a huge challenge, obviously, but one that I look forward to and one that I have looked forward to from day one. I think it is probably the toughest challenge up to this point.
